Electropop

As electronic pop music (often electropop ) is called pop music, in which the use of electronic instruments such as synthesizers, samplers and drum machines is a priority. As umbrella terms for the electronic styles of pop music sometimes the terms synth pop and electro pop to be used but also designate independent genres within the electronic pop music.

Because since the 1980s electronic technology is used throughout the pop music spectrum, only such as electronic music is pop music, in which the possibilities of electronics be exploited in the field of sound synthesis and can be referred to as an essential element of music.

  • 2.2 Styles of Industrial and Wave Culture
  • 2.3 styles with house and techno influence ( " dance music " )
  • 2.4 Retro - style around the turn of the millennium

History

The 1970s

Since the late 1960s, more and more rock music bands put electronic musical instruments, initially but for sound experiments that had to do with a mass-compatible pop slightly. The British progressive rock (eg Pink Floyd ) and the German counterpart to the Krautrock (eg Tangerine Dream), attended in 1970 for the first major wave of electronic music instruments in rock music.

In the early 1969, the song Popcorn by Gershon Kingsley, who used an early version of the Moog synthesizer was built - 1972 had the band Hot Butter Popcorn with a remake of a great success. Sustainable was the influence of coming from the Krautrock tradition of German group Kraftwerk, which created its own blend of simple melodies, electronic sounds and a grippy, technology- Image 1974 ( highway). The style of this band and other groups of this time was sometimes referred to as Cosmic rock or space rock called.

At the same time, the electronic experiments increased in the musical New Age Movement.

Also from this period dates the album Oxygène ( 1976) by Jean Michel Jarre. It was one of the first fully electronic rehearsed albums that hit the taste of the masses and synthesizer music made ​​an extended audience accessible. Due to the purely instrumental arrangements and the conscious rejection of classical ( pop ) song structures of Jarre 's early works as well as the German synth pioneers like Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze are not normally counted for synth pop.

The 1980s

The outgoing 1970s and early 1980s were a turning point in the electronic pop music. Goods are subject to in the 70s due to their price just a few top earners among the musicians synthesizer, so (relatively) cheaper and more compact instruments were then increasingly on the market ( esp. the manufacturer ARP Instruments, Korg, Moog, Oberheim, Roland and Yamaha ), which were affordable for a wider circle of musicians.

The result was a veritable boom in synthesizer bands that released their first music to also resulting in large numbers of independent labels. Many of these bands clearly relied on power station, but a trend toward more compact, catchy and danceable songs a bit. More and more bands put a synthesizer as a separate sound sources and created so many new styles. These ranged from the traditional pop music standing near electropop to "alternative" styles such as Minimal Electro and Electro Wave.

Thanks to its novel sounds, the original arrangements and not least their good dance ability, many synthpop bands were also commercially successful, which in the further course of the 1980s (from about 1983/84 ) the formation of dancefloor -oriented, commercialized styles such as Italo - Disco ( Gazebo, Righeira, Savage ) and euro Disco (Fancy, Bad Boys Blue, CC Catch) had the consequence.

In Germany, meanwhile, the German New Wave was created, a German language version of the New Wave, which was largely influenced by punk and the avant-garde. The use of electronic instruments was widespread, such as DAF, The Plan or Die Krupps.

Initially met with hostility from much of the music press, electronic music was fast style icon. A variety of bands that otherwise actually belonged to the traditional pop music, now used analog synthesizer sounds that matched the sense of time in the 1980s. From the United States would be here, for example Madonna and early, as current hits ( "Holiday", " Die Another Day " ) to call, and even musicians such as Paul McCartney built temporarily analog synthesizer sounds into their songs a.

Goods synthesizer initially monophonic and analog, so polyphonically playable and samplers arrived in the mid -1980s, more and more on the market. While some electronic bands changed their sound and in some cases even a pioneering role taking (eg Depeche Mode when using samplers ) other disappeared from the scene.

Starting in 1985, electronic music, however, had prevailed definitively on a broad level, and there were bands like Modern Talking, Pet Shop Boys, Bananarama or Art Of Noise on the plan, but not the synth-pop, but to Euro disco and other genres of electronic music be attributed.

From the 1990s to the present day

From about 1988/1989 came more and more the influence of techno and house in the foreground. The result was the so-called dance music, traditional pop music with house beats was essentially, however einbezog also some newer elements such as rapping. Also, the music style Trance was around 1993 " verpoppt " and provided with sung melodies, resulting in the so-called Euro beat.

From 1996, we remembered back to the roots of electronic pop music back, and in particular the British synthpop. More and more bands tried to carry out the original pop style of the 80s. The culmination of this movement was achieved with the electroclash wave around 2001, in the elements from the punk rock and electro have been processed. To date, this combination is successful from 80s aesthetics and modern mode of production worldwide.

Styles of electronic pop music

The electronic pop music today consists of a wide range of music styles, which, " Jazzy " little resemblance to adhere to the Melodious.

In the early days of electronic pop music synthesizers, samplers and drum machines were used as normal instruments, the structure of the songs but remained similar to the traditional pop music. Here the following styles emerged:

  • Synth pop, a style in which the synthesizer held a major role as a tone generator (eg Depeche Mode )
  • Electropop, where compared to the Synthpop synthesizer more assumed the role of an instrument among many
  • Italo Disco, Disco slower than the Euro, most artists come from Italy (eg Gazebo )
  • Hi- NRG, a faster development of Euro disco, which initiated the transition to dance music

Styles of Industrial and Wave Culture

In the mid- 1970s, the synthesizer was also used in styles of the Underground, particularly in the industrial environment. Here they had the function to create moods and enhance, for example by surface sounds or noise. As part of the New Wave, the main focus in the 1980s on danceability:

  • Minimal Electro
  • Electro Wave
  • Electronic Body Music

Styles with house and techno influence ( " dance music " )

These styles originated from the late 80s, but especially in the 90s and were primarily designed for danceability:

  • New Beat, a native of Belgium archetype of dance music with influences from EBM and Acid - range (eg Technotronic )
  • Euro Dance ( Euro dance floor ), a combination of Hip House, Euro disco and techno elements (eg, SNAP! )
  • U.S. dancefloor, a harder version of the Euro Dance ( eg Reel 2 Real )
  • Dream House, a mix of dance floor and trance music (eg Robert Miles )
  • Happy Hardcore, a fast, influenced by techno and trance development of Euro Dance ( eg Mark'Oh )
  • Future Pop: a blend of Euro Beat, Trance and modern electropop (eg VNV Nation)

Retro - style around the turn of the millennium

From 1996/97 woke up in the scene again, interest in the sound of the early days of electronic pop music, especially from the period around 1980 This was combined with a variety of new elements, for which soon found neologisms. :

  • Electroclash: An extended to punk and techno elements, " harder " style of Synthpop
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